Office of Child Welfare Programs

Transcription

1 Office of Child Welfare Programs Policy Title: Policy Number: Assessment of an Individual as a Safety Service Provider OAR I-AB thru 1230 Effective Date: 5/27/14 Approved By: on file Date Approved: Reference(s): ORS 419B.005 ORS ORS 419B.005 through.020 I-AB.1 Introduction to CPS Rules, OAR thru I-AB.4 CPS Assessment, through I-AB.6 Access to Law Enforcement Data System (LEDS) in Local Child Welfare Offices, OAR through I-E.1.1 Search for and Engagement of Relatives, OAR through Form(s) that apply: Rules: None referenced Purpose (1) The purpose of these rules, OAR to , is to describe the Department's responsibility to assess an individual for consideration as a safety service provider and to determine whether the individual is suitable as a safety service provider. (2) An individual employed by an agency providing services to a family through a current contract with the Department is not covered under these rules.

2 (3) Requirements for the assessment of an individual for the purpose of ongoing connection and support with a child or certification as a relative caregiver or foster parent are not covered under these rules Definitions In addition to the definitions in OAR , the following definitions apply to OAR to : (1) "Caseworker" means a Department employee assigned primary responsibility for a child or young adult served by the Department. (2) "Child" means a person under 18 years of age. (3) "CPS worker" means a Child Protective Services (CPS) worker who is an employee of the Department who has completed the mandatory Department training for child protective service workers. (4) "Department" means the Department of Human Services, Child Welfare. (5) "Foster parent" means an individual who operates a home that has been approved by the Department to provide care for an unrelated child or young adult placed in the home by the Department. (6) "Initial safety plan" means a documented set of actions or interventions sufficient to protect a child from an impending danger safety threat in order to allow for completion of the CPS assessment. (7) "LEDS" means Law Enforcement Data System, the computerized criminal history information system maintained by the Oregon State Police. (8) "Ongoing safety plan" means a documented set of actions or interventions that manage a child's safety after the Department has identified one or more impending danger safety threats at the conclusion of a CPS assessment or anytime during ongoing work with a family. (9) "Protective action plan" means an immediate, same day, short-term plan, lasting a maximum of ten calendar days, sufficient to protect a child from a present danger safety threat.

3 (10) "Relative caregiver" means an individual who operates a home that has been approved by the Department to provide care for a related child or young adult placed in the home by the Department. (11) "Safety service provider" means a participant in a protective action plan, initial safety plan, or ongoing safety plan whose actions, assistance, or supervision help a family in managing a child's safety Assessment of an Individual's Involvement in Safety Management (1) To assess an individual as a safety service provider for a specific family in a protective action plan, initial safety plan, or an ongoing safety plan, the CPS worker or caseworker must take all of the following actions: Identify and contact an individual who is a prospective safety service provider. Gather information from the individual regarding his or her: (A) (B) Relationship with the child and the child's family; and Willingness and ability to fulfill the specific role and responsibilities of a safety service provider for the identified family. (d) (e) Provide the individual with information regarding the specific role and responsibility of the individual to assist in managing the child's safety. Search the Department's information system and review any historic information regarding the individual that may be useful in assessing the individual's ability to be a safety service provider. If in an individual's role as a safety service provider the individual will have contact with the child, conduct a criminal records check on the individual using LEDS, provide notice as described in Child Welfare Policy I-AB.6, "Access to Law Enforcement Data System in Local Child Welfare Offices" OAR to , and review the individual's criminal history to assess the individual's ability to be a safety service provider. (2) After the CPS worker or caseworker has considered all the information gathered pursuant to section (1) of this rule, the CPS worker or caseworker must determine the individual's suitability as a safety service provider. In making this determination, the worker must consider whether the individual is willing and able to: Assist in managing the safety of the child;

4 (d) Cooperate with any restrictions on contact between the child and others; Support, verbally and through actions, the protective action plan, initial safety plan, and ongoing safety plan; and Fulfill the identified role and responsibilities required of the individual in a protective action plan, initial safety plan, or an ongoing safety plan. (3) The CPS worker or caseworker must consult with and receive approval from a supervisor prior to engaging an individual as a safety service provider whenever the individual's past behaviors, conditions, or circumstances include one of the items listed in the subsections of this section so long as those behaviors, conditions, or circumstances do not impact negatively the individual's ability to fulfill the specific role and responsibilities in managing the child's safety: A record of child abuse or neglect; A criminal history; or A history of drug or alcohol abuse. (4) The CPS worker or caseworker must document in the Department's information system: The basis for the determination regarding whether an individual is suitable as a safety service provider; and The supervisor who provided the approval required in section (3) of this rule Safety Service Provider Approval (1) The CPS worker or caseworker must inform an individual who has been considered and selected as a safety service provider that the individual has been approved as a safety service provider. The CPS worker or caseworker must further inform an approved safety service provider that the role of a safety service provider -- Is temporary; and The role or responsibilities may change if the Department obtains new information that changes the determination that the individual is suitable to manage a child's safety, prevents the individual from fulfilling the role identified in assisting to manage a child's safety, or the threat to child safety changes, is eliminated, or can be managed by a child's parent or guardian.

5 (2) The CPS worker or caseworker must inform an individual who has been considered but has not been selected as a safety service provider that the individual has not been approved to be a safety service provider. (3) When an individual has been informed that the individual is approved or not approved as a safety service provider or the determination that an individual is approved changes, if the status change results in a change in the protective action plan, initial safety plan, or ongoing safety plan, the CPS worker or caseworker must refer to OAR and OAR Contact(s): Name: Deborah Carnaghi; Phone: Policy History 07/01/10